Furnace structure



Aprll 21, 1925.

L. D. SLADE FURNACE STRUCTURE Filed April 18, 1922 INVENTOR. leonflfllaaze ATTORNEY Fatented Apr. 21, 1925.

warren STATES rrnr LEON D. SLADE, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, AS SIGNUlR T 'GLEASUN WURKS, OF

ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION DE NE W IGBK.

FURNACE STRUCTURE.

Application flied April 18, 1922. serial No. 554,749.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LEON D. SLADE, a citizen of the United State of America, residing at Rochester, in the county of Monroe and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Furnace Structures, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a furnace structure, and is particularly adaptable to electric and similar furnaces in which high temperatures are employed for hardening and otherwise heat-treating metal articles.

One of the principal objects of the improvement is to provide a furnace door, for cooperation with the opening through which articles are fed, and constructed in such manner as to afford a practically air tight joint or seal when the door is closed, so as to prevent loss of heat, while at the same time maintaining the exterior parts of the furnace in a cool state. 7

An additional object ofthe invention is to facilitate feeding articles to the furnace, through the instrumentality of a movable floor section that is automatically brought into proper relationship with the floor of the furnace when the door is opened, so as to afford a continuation of the furnace floor exteriorly thereof, the articles which are fed in passing over said movable floor section before entering the furnace.

The invention also comprehends certain other features of improvement, all of which will appear clearly from the following de scription, when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, the novel features being pointed out in the claims following the specification.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a front elevation of a furnace constructed in accordance with a, preferred embodiment of the invention;

Figure 2 is a vertical sectionalview showing;i the door in closed or lowered position, an u v Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 2, partially broken away, and illustrating the door in elevated or open position.

The invention maybe carried out in a variety of ways, depending upon the type. of furnace to which it is applied, and the present disclosure is intended merely by way of example of one practical embodimerit, and not as limiting the scope of my improvement to the particular construction illustrated.

In the arrangement shown, 1 designates the body of a furnace, provided with an interior2 which is heated in any suitable manso ner, and feed rolls 3, by which the articles to be treated are'carried through the furnace from one end to the other. The articles referred to are fed into the furnace, preferably by hand, through an opening a, which is surrounded by a wall of heat insulating material, such as brick, designated at 5, while 6 designates a stationary floor at the bottom of said opening.

7 designates a loading platform arranged 7 exteriorly of the furnace, and mounted on stationary supports 8. Located between the loading latform 7 and the opening 4 is a door which is utilized to close said opening except when articles are to be fed into the 7 furnace. At such time, it is desirable .to bridge the gap between the loading platform 7 and the floor 6, so as to'permit readily feeding the articles from one to the other, and it is also important when the door is closed that a substantially air tight joint or seal be made, and in a manner that prevents heating and consequent warping of the exterior metal parts of the furnace. To accomplish this, I. provide a metallic wall 9 around the exterior of the brick furnace wall, said wall 9 having its exterior surface, where it is engaged by the door, machined smooth and true to afford a close fit with the door when the latter is closed. The wall so 9 terminates adjacent to the aforementio-ned brick wall 5 and in spaced relation to the opening 4.

Cooperating with said wall 9, is a door which comprises a body portion 10 of heat insulating material such as brick, said body portion being arranged so that its inner face contacts with the wall 5around the opening 4: when the door is in closed position, as illustrated in Figure 2. The body portion 10 is held within a metallic housing ll, extending over the outer surfaces of the body portion 10, entirely covering the same except on its inner surface already mentioned. The parts are so arranged that when the door is in closed position, as illus- .trated in Figure 2, the exposed or free edge 12 of the metallic housing 11 engages the adjacent surfaces of the metal wall 9, and said contacting edge 11 is machined true,

for close engagement with the wall 9, thus affording a closure by means of machined metallic surfaces, and consequently a substantially air-tight seal that prevents loss of heat from the interior of the furnace. The metallic housing 11 and the wall 9 are adequately insulated from the heat within the furnace by means of the insulating body portion 10 of the door and the insulating wall 5 surrounding the opening 4.

In order to enable readily feeding articles from the loading platform 7 to the floor ti, I provide a movable floor section which is actuated automatically when the door is opened to bring it to a position adjacent to the floor 6 and the platform 7. This is preferably accomplished by a floor section 13 that is fixedly connected to the housing 11 through the instrumentality of arms or brackets 14. The floor section 13 is located in spaced relation beneath the bottom of the door and moves upwardly with the latter when it is operated to open position, there by carrying the floor section 13 upwardly until it assumes the position illustrated in Figure 3, between the loading platform 7 and the floor 6. Thus there is afforded a continuous floor from the loading platform inwardly, so that an article, such as the illustrated gear, may be readily pushed from the platform 7 into and through the feeding opening 4 until it reaches the feed rolls 3.

The door may be elevated and lowered by any convenient mechanism. the particular character of which forms no part of this invention, and the downward movement of the door is limited by suitable stops 15 which are independently adjustable, and engage inclined stops 16 mounted on the door. This arrangement of stops causes the door to be actuated toward the furnace. as it reaches the limit of its downward travel, so that it is forced tightly against the furnace wall, effecting the necessary tight engagement between the contacting metal surfaces of the door and furnace wall which are machined and thereby cause a substantially air-tight seal when the door is closed.

lVhile I have described the invention with reference to a more or less detailed embodiment, it is not limited to the particular arrangement described, and this application is intended to cover any departures or modifications coming within the intended scope of the improvement or of the following claims.

I claim:

1. The combination with a furnace having an opening through which articles are fed, of a stationary floor at the bottom of the opening, a door for closing said opening, and a movable floor section that is automatically actuated into a position adjacent to said stationary floor when the door is opened.

2. The combination with a furnace having an opening through which articles are fed, of a stationary floor at the bottom of the opening, a door for closing said opening, and a to the door and actuated thereby, as the door is opened, into a position adjacent to said stationary floor.

The combination with a furnace having an opening through which articles are fed, of a stationary floor at the bottom of the opening, a door for closing said opening, and a floor section carried by the door and arranged so that when the door is open, the floor section is located adjacent to said stationary floor.

4. The combination with a furnace having an opening through which articles are fed, of a stationary floor at the bottom of the opening, a door movable upwardly upon opening, and a floor section carried by the door and located in spaced relation therebeneath whereby when the door is open, the floor section is located adjacent to said stationary floor.

5. The combination with a furnace having an opening through which articles are fed, of a heat insulating wall surrounding said opening, a metal wall forming the exterior of the furnace and terminating in spaced relation to said opening and adjacent to said heat insulating wall, and a door comprising a heat insulating body portion, the inner surface of which is arranged to contact with said heat insulating wall around the opening, and a metallic housing covering the outer surfaces of said body portion, the exposed edge of the metallic housing engaging the adjacent surfaces of said metal wall around the opening when the door is closed.

6. The combination with a furnace having an opening through which articles are fed, of a heat insulating wall surrounding said opening, a metal wall forming the exterior of the furnace and terminating in spaced relation to said opening and adjacent to the heat insulating wall, and a door comprising a heat insulating body portion, the inner surface of which is arranged to contact with said heat insulating wall around the opening, a metallic housing covering the outer surfaces of said body ortion, the exposed edge of the metallic housing engaging the adjacent surfaces of said metal wall around the opening when the door is closed, and a floor section connected to the door and movable thereby, when the door is opened, into a position adjacent to the bottom of said opening.

7. The combination with a furnace having an opening through which articles are fed, of a heat insulating wall surrounding said opening, a metal wall forming the exterior of the furnace and terminating in spaced relation to said opening and adjacent to the heat insulating wall, and a vermovable 'floor section connected tically movable door comprising a heat insulating body portion, the inner surface of which is arranged to contact with said heat insulating wall around the opening, a metallic housing covering the outer surfaces of said body portion, the exposed edge of the metallic housing engaging the adjacent surfaces of said metal wall around the opening when the door is closed, and a floor section carried by the door and arranged, in spaced relation therebeneath whereby when the door is opened, the floor section is positioned adjacent to the bottom of the openmg.

8. The combination with a furnace having an opening through which articles are fed, of a stationary floor at the bottom of the opening, a loading platform, a door located between said loading said opening and slidable for c osing the latter, and a movable floor section that is automatically actuated into position between and adjacent to said floor and loading platform when the door is opened.

9. The combination with a furnace havin an opening through which articles are fe of a stationary floor at the bottom of the openin a loading platform, a vertically slida le door located between said loading latform and said openin and a floor section carried by the door an located in spaced relation therebeneath whereby when the door is open, the floor section is located adjacent to and between said floor and loading platform.

10. The combination with a furnace having an opening throu h which articles are fed, of a heat insulating wall surrounding said opening, a metal wall forming the exterior of the furnace and terminating in spaced relation to said opening and adjacent to the heat insulating wall, a loading platform, a door located between said loading platform and said opening and slidable for closing the latter, said door comprising a heat insulating body portion, the inner surface of which is" arranged to contact with latform and said heat insulating-wall around the opening, a metallic housing covering the outer surfaces of said body portion, the exposed edge of the metallic housing engaging the adjacent surfaces of said metal wall around the opening when the door is closed, and a floor section carried by the door and located in spaced relation therebeneath whereby when the door is open, the floor section is located adjacent to and between said floorand loading platform.

11. The combination with an electric furnace having an opening through which articles are fed, of a heat insulatlng wall surrounding said opening, a metal wall surrounding said heat insulating wall and having its outer surface machined where it is engaged by the door, and a sliding door comprising a heat insulating body portion, the inner surface of which is arranged to engage said heat insulating wall around the opening, and a metallic housing having a plane inner edge machined for engagement with the machined surface on said wall.

12. The combination with a furnace, of a sliding door, machined met-a1 surfaces on the door and furnace for contact with each other when the door is closed, means acting to force the door tightly against the furnace as it reaches its closed position, said means comprising a series of stationary stops, and a series of sto s on the door for engagement with said stationary stops.

13. The combination with a furnace, of a sliding door, machined metal surfaces on the door and furnace for contact with each other when the door is closed, and means acting to force the door tightly against the furnace as it reaches its closed position, said means comprising a series of independently adjustable stops, and a series of fixed inclined stops on the door for engagement with the adjustable stops.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto signed my name.

LEON D. SLADE. 

